Meet Mo

"I like it here a lot. It’s really fun. They’re trying to educate kids. I feel like I’m smarter when I come here. They help me with my homework, if it’s hard or not. What would I tell a new person? To me, I think you should be yourself. I would show them around, get to know them and I’d tell them not to worry, that the Boys and Girls Club is a safe place. You have nothing to worry about. I was pretty excited when I got to come. I come here like three times a week. The best day of my life was when I went to the Ottawa Fury soccer game with the Boys and Girls Club." - Mo, 9, Police Youth Centre

Meet Joshua

"I’ve been coming to the Club for two years now. If I wasn’t’ here today, I’d be sitting on my couch watching Netflix. I play summer league basketball. Coming here improves my game a lot. We do drills, we work on skills like ball handling. One thing I’d like to do after high school is go to university in the U.S., hopefully play D1. After that, everyone’s dream is to go pro. Fallback plan? Probably teaching the game." - Joshua, 15, Police Youth Centre

Meet Tolu

(Tolu is the young man holding the trophy. Their team took home the senior boy's division 2 trophy at St-Pius!)

"Growing up, it was easy to dream of being a big-time doctor or class-action lawyer, but you soon begin to realize that the real world poses challenges and nothing in life comes easy. I began to realize that I could not be successful on my way and I needed wings. The Boys and Girls Club of Ottawa provided me with those wings. 

Sports, along with the incredible staff, helped me develop self-confidence, leadership, and teamwork. I loved to play hockey when I was younger, but when my mom said it was too expensive, I turned to the Club for more and different options. There is such an unbelievable amount of opportunities when you are a Member of the Club. First off, it's FREE, however, it's only open five days a week which stinks. Kids like me look forward to coming to the Club because there are so many opportunities to grow and learn about yourself. Even after nine years, I still continue to learn and grow because of the many opportunities I have been exposed to. 

So, I guess you could say that the Boys and Girls Club is 'a great place to be' but I'd say that it's 'an amazing place to be.'"

Creative Arts: Writing and creating a music video